NYT op-ed omits stats that debunk pro-corporate claims
The April 10 New York Times devoted half its op-ed space to an elaborate attempt to demonstrate the benefits of globalization, with charts showing that "more globalized" nations do better than "less globalized" on measures ranging from average inflation to the rule of law. But one obvious measure of economic health, the economic growth rate, is conspicuously absent—perhaps because those statistics would have directly contradicted the op-ed's point.
"Globalizing Good Government," written by Richard W. Fisher and W. Michael Cox of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, chided opponents of a French law that would have made it easier to fire young employees (the law has since been scuttled) for "misunderstanding the realities of our globalizing economy." Fisher and Cox argued that "the more globalized nations tend to pursue policies that achieve faster economic growth," while "the least globalized countries are prone to policies that interfere with markets and lead to stagnation."
"It is clear that countries with solid policies will be more successful in the global economy," the op-ed concluded. "If our data demonstrate anything, it is that globalization prompts a race to the top by pushing countries to abandon policies that burden their economies in favor of those that fuel growth and economic opportunity."
It's true that on several of the policies favored by the authors, like "favorable corporate taxes" and "capital market openness," countries did do better—from Fisher and Cox's point of view—the more globalized they were. But do such policies actually result in faster economic growth? The obvious way to begin to answer such a question is to compare the various groups of countries in terms of growth in gross domestic product. Since the op-ed authors neglected to do this, FAIR looked up the most recent statistics available from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development—the change between 2003 and 2004—and found some surprising results.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2859%20
The April 10 New York Times devoted half its op-ed space to an elaborate attempt to demonstrate the benefits of globalization, with charts showing that "more globalized" nations do better than "less globalized" on measures ranging from average inflation to the rule of law. But one obvious measure of economic health, the economic growth rate, is conspicuously absent—perhaps because those statistics would have directly contradicted the op-ed's point.
"Globalizing Good Government," written by Richard W. Fisher and W. Michael Cox of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, chided opponents of a French law that would have made it easier to fire young employees (the law has since been scuttled) for "misunderstanding the realities of our globalizing economy." Fisher and Cox argued that "the more globalized nations tend to pursue policies that achieve faster economic growth," while "the least globalized countries are prone to policies that interfere with markets and lead to stagnation."
"It is clear that countries with solid policies will be more successful in the global economy," the op-ed concluded. "If our data demonstrate anything, it is that globalization prompts a race to the top by pushing countries to abandon policies that burden their economies in favor of those that fuel growth and economic opportunity."
It's true that on several of the policies favored by the authors, like "favorable corporate taxes" and "capital market openness," countries did do better—from Fisher and Cox's point of view—the more globalized they were. But do such policies actually result in faster economic growth? The obvious way to begin to answer such a question is to compare the various groups of countries in terms of growth in gross domestic product. Since the op-ed authors neglected to do this, FAIR looked up the most recent statistics available from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development—the change between 2003 and 2004—and found some surprising results.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2859%20